On 8/6/06, Rohit V Bhute rvbhute@gmail.com wrote:
I would like add another angle to this drivers debate - the need for good diagnostic tools for the hardware. Case in point being my hp 3325.
The 3325 (my printer since 2 years now) had been difficult to configure and was also much slower in Linux compared to Windows. The installation complexity for printers in general has reduced over time, but it still isn't good enough I guess.
Could this (the pop-ups that are generated by the HP Printer Assistant) have been possibly developed in Linux also? Or is it proprietary?
HP provides support for Linux with it's HPIJS (and later HPLIP) printer driver and tools. HPLIP also has a diagnostic tool for HP printers which will help you do stuff like clean cartridges, calibrate the printer, etc.
If you notice none of the popups that are on windows (paper jam, empty tray, ink level warning, etc.) appear on GNU/Linux. That is because printing often takes place through a generic interface (lpr, cups) and the behaviour needs to be consistent across all printers. It's not impossible though. It will probably require another layer/tool that will listen for these messages from the printer and according to its make, decipher and display the message to the user.
Siddhesh